


Use Your Words

by relativestranger



Series: Just MakoHaru Things [4]
Category: Free!
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Goofballs & Dorks, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-23 21:49:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7481289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/relativestranger/pseuds/relativestranger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin is one half of a budding romance and he has a rather embarrassing question. Wait, why is he going to his idiot friends for help? This is the most ill-conceived, poorly thought-out, asinine plan he's ever concocted. And he's had a lot of them in his lifetime.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Use Your Words

**Author's Note:**

> It's barely been a week and I'm already back.  
> I told you I wasn't done with this universe. I'll never be done with this universe. There's no escape. Send help.  
> If this is your first time exploring this universe, may I be so bold as to suggest that you start from the beginning? It's more fun that way :)
> 
> This is just a dumb dumb conversation I wanted these three to have. Dumb dumb conversations are my specialty.

They lay out, spread eagle on the slick tiles as their chests heave—gasping and struggling for oxygen after their compulsory race while the rest of their friends frolic happily in the pool.   
_This is perfect opportunity_ , he thinks to himself. He looks over at his fish-for-brains friend and sits up. Combing his fingers through his wet, long hair, he flicks Haru's shoulder.

Haru tsks and backhands his hand away. “What?”

Rin bites his lip nervously. He's been wanting to talk to someone about this for a while now. Debating with himself endlessly, the pros and cons of approaching each one of his friends about the subject before settling on Haru.

Nagisa was immediately nixed, he's a blabbermouth and far too excitable and that will just lead to so much embarrassment. (“OH MY GOD, RIN-RIN! THIS IS SO ADORABLE! WE SHOULD TAKE A PHOTO TO COMMENORATE THIS!”)

Rei would have been a fine choice but he really didn't want to hear about theories and the technical aspects of it. Thinking about it, the clinical manner in which Rei would approach it would actually be equally as embarrassing. (“Well, you see, Rin-san, humans have for millions of years have engaged in such an activity. There's no reason to be embarrassed. It's only embarrassing because society dictates us to be so.”)

Makoto would have been his preferred choice but he doubts he would be able to string together a sentence without stuttering or chuckling nervously on the subject. (“Oh, well, uh, you see, the thing is, I, um, what I mean is…”) He also doubts he'd know how to allay his set of particular concerns. But still... Haru?

This is so uncomfortable. Of all the people to engage in _this_ kind of conversation with... Not that they haven't before but that was in jest. That was him ragging on Haru. Now he's on the other side. At least he knows Haru won't pull any punches. Although, he isn't exactly sure if that's a good thing.

“When you and Makoto, ... **you know**. Does it, well, ... **you know**?” He mumbles pathetically. Like an idiot teenager. Although, to be fair, he _is_ 19.

Haru pushes up and reclines on his elbows, raising a confused eyebrow at him. “Use your words, Rin. I don't speak vague.”

Incredulous, Rin scoffs at the declaration. “Since when?”

“I'm never vague.”

“‘Don't resist the water’? ‘Dive in with your heart’? Is that ringing any bells?”

Haru cocks his head like a bewildered cat, “I think that's perfectly clear. A five-year-old can understand it. Are you not at least five, Rin?”

His patience snaps and temper flares. _Fuck this_ , he growls to himself, _fucking pointless_. Of all the asinine things he’s done in his life…

“You are insufferable! I don't know why I thought this was a good idea!” He’s about to stomp off but Haru stops him.

“Rin, what is it? When Makoto and I what?”

“Are you actually going to help?” His temper simmers considerably but he’s still annoyed as fuck. Talking—or rather _not_ talking—to Haru has always been like pulling teeth. No, it’s worse. He goes through long stretches of silence where you legitimately wonder if he’s even aware of your existence.

Haru shrugs and nods.

Rin swallows and starts where he left off. “Have... **you know**.”

Haru releases a quiet huff of annoyance, his eye twitches imperceptibly, indicating that this _you know_ business is really getting on his nerves. “You speak Japanese, Rin. I suggest you try using it.”

He snaps, reflexively raising his voice. “Sex!,” he hisses irritably. He scans the pool in a panic. Thankfully, no one heard him. “I'm talking about sex,” he hisses again, this time, quietly.

Haru’s shoulders relax, leaning onto his elbows heavily. “Oh. Okay. What about it?”

He pulls at his hair in frustration. He can’t possibly be serious. He can’t possibly be this dense! “Come _on_ , Haru! Can't you fill in the blanks? Do I really need to draw you a diagram?”

Haru cocks his head contemplatively, “Shouldn't **I** be the one to draw **you** a diagram considering **you're** asking **me** about it?”

_Annoying. So, so annoying. It **has** to be on purpose at this point._

“Stop being so infuriating for once, Haru!”

“Well, you're not exactly being clear. What aspect of sex are you asking about? Are you and Sousuke having—” 

_This conversation is officially flailing. It's sinking and it’s time to abandon ship._

“No! God, no! We've barely started... **kissing**.”

_Walk away. Walk away now. Just get up and go._

“Shouldn't you be discussing this with Sousuke then?”

He hugs his knees to his chest, stammering inelegantly, “I-I… I just want to know what to expect down the road, you know?”

_Why aren't you walking away?_

“Is the internet not an option?”

He scowls again, bearing his sharp teeth at Haru. “God, you know, I just thought maybe you can help. I should've known better.” He gears up for a rant but Haru cuts him off before he could start.

“What is it that you want to know?”

Rin twiddles his thumbs nervously, his embarrassment not waning in the the face of his anger and annoyance and in fact, increasing with every passing, suffocating second. “…How does it feel? I mean, bottoming can't be… comfortable, right? It… it’s gotta hurt, right?”

Crinkles on Haru’s forehead emerge as he processes Rin’s question. “Wait... That's it?” 

He lifts his head, straightening up—half in confusion, half in interest. “What do you mean **that's it**?” 

Haru regrets allowing this conversation to continue. Perhaps he can pawn this off to Makoto. Besides, Makoto is much better suited for the reassuring thing. “You don't have to ask me. We can get—” Haru stops short and narrows his eyes at him, “Wait, are you automatically assuming that **I** bottom?”

Rin squints at him, the red in his eyes barely noticeable between the slits. “Well, don't you?”

“Yes,” Haru says as if that’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Which is why he’s asking him in the first place so what’s the problem here? “Well then what’s—?”

“But so does Makoto.”

“The proble—wait, what?!” Shocked, wide, red eyes snap in his direction.

Haru enunciates slowly as if speaking to a child. “I top,” he gestures to himself and then gestures vaguely in Makoto’s direction, “Makoto bottoms. We do both.”

Processing the mere concept requires more brain power than he currently has at his disposal at the moment so he settles for a dumb, “I... What?”

“Are you slow?”

He gestures inarticulately at Makoto. “But... Makoto is…” He waves his arms at Haru. “And you're…”  

Haru is really displeased now if his tense jaw and narrowed eyes are any indication. “We're what? We both have penises and assholes.”

Yep, Haru is definitely annoyed and pissed if he’s being particularly rude. And crass. “Jesus fucking Christ, Haru,” he mutters under his breath.

“It's called equal opportunity.”

“But…” he rebuts dumbly.

Suddenly, Haru inhales sharply and sits up ramrod straight, his fingers curling into fists. But he's pretty sure he isn't going to punch him. Yet. “Oh, I see. It's because it doesn't fit into your expected world view. Is that it?”

He tries again to explain, trying for something more articulate this time. “It's just…”

Wet footsteps slap against the tiles, approaching closer and closer to the two. “Haru? Rin? What are you two still doing here?”

Makoto rakes his wet hair sticking to his forehead out of his eyes.

_Jesus, he looks good like that. It really is unfair to the rest of humanity how good-looking he is._

He stops in front of them and towers over them, his hands on his hips.

“Don't you want to get back in the water?”

“I do,” Haru confirms.

“Then wha—?”

“But Rin doesn't believe I top,” he finishes.

“Haru!” Appalled, Rin nearly screeches at Haru’s apparent blabbermouth.

“Wh-why are you even discussing this?” Makoto stammers in absolute horror.

“Because he wanted to know what it's like to bottom.” 

Rin's face glows red with fury, completely mortified at the blasé way in which Haru reveals their topic of conversation. “Haru! What the fuck? This is supposed to be between me and you!”

“Oh.” Haru frowns. At least he has the decency to look contrite. “You should have said that from the beginning.” 

Rin snarls at him, _jerk. Unbelievable jerk._ “You are just so… Just... Forget it, okay?”

Makoto raises his arms in a conciliatory manner, “Wait, Rin! If you really want to talk about this…”

“I don’t. Not anymore.” He’s not even upset anymore. Just tired. It’s tiring talking to Haru.

Makoto squats down, balancing himself on the balls of his feet. For him to have such an unwieldy frame, he’s surprisingly graceful. “Rin. Haru's just being difficult.”

He scoffs in derision, “No kidding.”

Makoto hunches over and sit in front of him instead, “Maybe I can help instead?”

He peeks up at him through his long fringe, blowing his hair out of his eyes and considers him closely. “You... You really bottom?”

He smiles softly and it’s disarming as all fuck. “Well, yeah.” But then his smile turns into a frown. “Is that a problem?”

He doesn’t approve of a frowning Makoto. Makoto is too good and too optimistic and too pure-hearted (although this current conversation would make one think otherwise) to frown. There should only be one mode for Makoto and that mode is smiling. Of course, there are numerous subsets within the smile mode. Haru would be more familiar with them though. Hell, he probably **knows** all of them.

He’s quick to reassure him, “No! No, of course not! I just didn't realize…”

It finally dawns on Makoto when Rin subconsciously tracks his curious red eyes up and down his body. “Oh,” he scratches his chest.

He gets it, he really does. He's taller, bigger, and appearance wise, stronger than Haru. In a world of preconceived notions that permeates the society they live in, of course one would conclude that he's the one that tops. But that's stupid. It's stupid because when you enjoy something, it shouldn't be hindered or dictated by something as trivial as _height_. Also, he really wishes that people wouldn’t speculate, or more accurately, _presume_ to know what his and Haru’s private relationship is like. Well, he wishes that people wouldn’t think about their private relationship at all. It's creepy. But humans are a curious species. At least, that’s what Rei keeps telling him.

“I get it. It's because I'm a giant, right? Doesn't fit in with the image?”

“Makoto, I didn't mean to—”

At this point, Haru interjects unhelpfully. “You should stop reading yaoi manga.”

 _Offend_. _I didn’t mean to offend._

“Haru,” Makoto admonishes gently while Rin sputters for the hundredth time today, “ **I don’t!** ”

“Not that there’s anything wrong with it.”

_Why does he feel the need to clarify? Please stop._

“If that’s what you like, who am I to judge? Just be aware that majority of it perpetuates certain misconceptions and myths about men, sex, and relationships.”

_Oh. That's actually the first sensible answer from Haru today. I think._

“I just keep learning new things about you, Haru.”

Makoto smiles proudly at his dumb-dumb, rude boyfriend, “Right? Everyday is like an adventure.”

“Sap,” Rin snorts.

“So sappy,” Haru agrees.

Makoto rolls his eyes, “Shut up. _Anyway_. There’s nothing wrong with having a preference. Sex isn’t something to be ashamed of. And there’s no wrong way to have sex as long as all parties consented. But yeah, I top. And I bottom. Haru tops and Haru bottoms. Haru and I, we knew very early on that we wanted to try everything; that we didn't want to miss out on anything. If one of us didn't enjoy something, then that's that. No questions asked. And if it's something that one of us wants to revisit, again, no questions asked. But turns out, we both enjoy topping and we both enjoy bottoming. So we take turns.” Makoto twists his fingers at the hem of his leg skins, “I'm assuming since you're asking about bottoming that you'll be the one—?”

Rin throws his arms up in the air, giving up on logic and common sense. “Well, I **thought** so! Now I'm not so sure.”

What did Haru say earlier? Oh, right, world view. What a dumbass world view to have in the first place. Idiot. He really should have known that the world is a little more complex than that. Hasn't he learned that already? Also, he should have known Haru would be a big, ole greedy McGreedy face and want it both ways. He is in fact, an idiot. Because now that the idea is out there, he can't deny that it holds a certain amount of appeal to him. Yep, most definitely a big, dumb idiot. 

“Okay, then you **definitely**  need to talk to Sousuke about this rather than us. Things like this... There needs to be clear, brutally honest conversations. **Especially** about the intimate parts of your relationship. I know the very prospect is embarrassing and awkward, believe me, we've had our fair share of it,” Makoto gestures between he and Haru. “But there's just so much to explore. So much nuance and without those conversations, you're going to end up lost and rudderless and end up with something you don't want or didn't anticipate or aren't comfortable with. And that’s really not something you want. I know, it’s not a particularly… _sexy conversation_ ,” he hisses lowly, “to have but this most intimate thing you can ever do with another person. And it's so personal and private. It’s not something you can just shrug and do,” he struggles for the right word and settles for gesturing vaguely, “whatever.” 

“Honesty, Rin,” Haru interjects once again, reminding him that he’s still sitting next to him. “I'm serious. None of this hint-hint, nudge-nudge,  **you know** crap.”

He folds his arms over his chest in annoyance. Being lectured by Nanase Haruka is not a thing he needs in life. “Yeah, okay! I get it! Jeez.”

Makoto, the damned angel that he is, diffuses any blow-ups by offering, “And when you and Sousuke have it figured out, and you still have questions, we're more than happy to help.”

Rin nods gratefully. He happily admits that he was wrong about Makoto regarding this matter. Sure, he stuttered a little and blushed a little but for the most part, he was direct and straightforward and more helpful than he gave him credit for. He appreciates that. Although, his initial question does remain unanswered. But he decides that it can be revisited at a later time, **after** he’s had the embarrassingly awkward conversation with Sousuke.

"Just one piece of advice for either one of you…” Haru begins and he can’t help but have a bad feeling about this. “Remember to stretch. Real sex is not a porno.”

Makoto nods along, without an iota of embarrassment. “Nothing even **close** to it."

Haru shrugs nonchalantly, “We learned that the hard way.”

“Not a great lesson but lesson learned nonetheless.” 

“So, yeah, seriously stretch.”

Well, he supposes that that does answer his original question. In a way. He wasn't prepared for it though as he feels his face heat up in horror. He’s saved from further humiliation by a splashing blonde.

“Hey! Mako-chan, Haru-chan, Rin-chan! You guys coming in or what? It’s boring without you!”

“I beg your pardon?” Rei splutters indignantly.

“You’re a little shit, Nagisa,” Sousuke mutters.

“I take that as a compliment.”

“You would.”

“I really would.”

“We’ll be right in!” Makoto shouts over his shoulder before turning back to him, “We good then?"

He nods stiffly, “We’re good.”

“Great, then let’s go. Everyone’s waiting and Haru is getting antsy.”

Haru is already on his feet before Makoto could finish, running across the tiles (and ignoring Makoto’s concerned “Be careful!”) and diving into the cool water again. Makoto quickly takes off after him.  
He sits there, dumbstruck, for a few more seconds before climbing to his feet and joining his idiot friends.

The conversation was helpful but it's still the most asinine thing he's ever done and he's going to pretend it never happened.

 _Idiot_. 

**Author's Note:**

> You know what they say about assumptions, right, Rin? Congratulations, you made an ass out of yourself.
> 
> Sorry for the lack of Sousuke in a fic that is ostensively a SouRin centric fic.
> 
> Again, thanks for reading and as always, please leave any comments, thoughts, or suggestions you may have!


End file.
